Sargeras
Sargeras the Destroyer, the Fallen Titan, is the creator and leader of the Burning Legion. Sargeras was once a Titan, a champion chosen by his fellow members of the Pantheon to defend the worlds they had created. He carried out these duties for countless millennia, seeking out and destroying the demons of the Twisting Nether wherever he could find them. Though Sargeras' nearly limitless powers were more than enough to defeat the monsters he faced, he was greatly troubled by their corruption and all-consuming evil. Incapable of fathoming such depravity, the great Titan began to slip into a brooding depression. The Fallen Titan & The Burning Crusade While his confusion and misery deepened, Sargeras was forced to contend with another group intent on disrupting the Titans' order: the Nathrezim. This dark race of vampiric demons (also known as dreadlords) conquered a number of populated worlds by possessing their inhabitants and turning them to the shadow. The nefarious, scheming dreadlords turned whole nations against one another by manipulating them into unthinking hatred and mistrust. Sargeras defeated the Nathrezim easily, but their corruption affected him deeply. As doubt and despair overwhelmed Sargeras' senses, he lost all faith not only in his mission, but also in the Titans' vision of an ordered universe. Eventually he came to believe that the concept of order itself was folly, and that chaos and depravity were the only absolutes within the dark, lonely universe. His fellow Titans tried to make Sargeras realize his erroneous way of thinking and calm his raging emotions, but he disregarded their more optimistic beliefs as self-serving delusions. Storming from their ranks forever, Sargeras set out to find his own place in the universe. Although the Pantheon was sorrowful at his departure, the Titans could never have predicted just how far their lost brother would go. By the time Sargeras' madness had consumed the last vestiges of his valiant spirit, he believed that the Titans themselves were responsible for creation's failure. Deciding at last to undo their works throughout the universe, he resolved to form an unstoppable army that would set the physical universe aflame. In his fury, Sargeras shattered the prisons of the Nathrezim and set the loathsome demons free. These cunning creatures bowed before the dark Titan's vast rage and offered to serve him in whatever malicious ways they could. Thus was the Burning Legion born. On the planet Argus, Sargeras found the army he sought - the Eredar, a race of highly intelligent beings with a natural affinity for magic in all its myriad forms. From the ranks of these mighty creatures, Sargeras picked two champions to command his demonic army of destruction. Kil'jaeden the Deceiver was chosen to seek out the darkest races in the universe and recruit them into Sargeras' ranks. The second champion, Archimonde the Defiler, was chosen to lead Sargeras' vast armies into battle against any who might resist the Titan's will. A third Eredar lord, Velen, refused Sargeras' offer and fled from Argus with his followers, renaming them the Draenei, or Exiled Ones. Velen and the Draenei fled across several planets, but eventually settled down on a distant world which they renamed Draenor, or Exiles' Refuge. Once Sargeras saw that his armies were amassed and ready to follow his every command, he launched his raging forces into the vastness of the Great Dark. To this date, it is still unclear how many worlds they consumed and burned on their unholy Burning Crusade across the universe. The Temptation of Azeroth Far away, on the young world of Azeroth, the elven queen Azshara and her people, the highborne, were wielding magic as their plaything. Sensing the great potential of the Well of Eternity, and knowing that it could satiate his hunger for magic, Sargeras called the Burning Legion to the ethereal outskirts of Azeroth, and the Enemy of All Life called to Azshara. The highborne Queen was impressed and overwhelmed by Sargeras' great power, and agreed to allow him entrance to her world if only for a taste of a portion of his knowledge and energy. Thus did the first invasion of Azeroth begin. (Note: In the novel The Well of Eternity by Richard A. Knaak, it is shown that Sargeras exercised a subtle but effective form of mental manipulation while speaking to Azshara and her councilor, Xavius, after he made contact with them. This resulted in them coming to admire and worship Sargeras as a god, willing to do anything to help him. It was also shown that Sargeras' manipulation could be resisted, but that it required a good deal of conscious effort and willpower. Even Malfurion almost fell under the influence of the evil Titan. It's possible, if not likely, that Azshara and Xavius were too overcome with powerlust to even notice what he was doing to them, let alone try to resist.) Archimonde and the great Pit Lord Mannoroth stormed through Kalimdor, ripping the world to shreds and sucking every ounce of energy from it that they could. Meanwhile, Sargeras waited in the Twisting Nether for Azshara to strengthen the Portal enough to allow him entrance. That time was growing very near very soon. However, at the last moment, the night elves, aided by Cenarius' woodfolk and Alexstrasza's dragons, mustered their forces and rebelled against the highborne, in a climactic battle that destroyed the Well of Eternity and crushed much of the world to rubble. The defenders of Azeroth paid a great cost to throw the demons back into the Twisting Nether, but in the end, Sargeras' mission had failed for the very first time. Because the portal rift into the Twisting Nether vanished in such a great display of magical power, the forces holding the worlds together ruptured, causing the Well of Eternity to implode. A massive part of Kalimdor sank beneath the ocean, and where the Well of Eternity had been before, there was only a gigantic oceanic vortex, later named the Maelstrom. Aegwynn & Medivh Some nine thousand years later, a human woman named Aegwynn, the latest in the legendary line of great sorcerers called the Guardians of Tirisfal, was charged with protecting Azeroth from the demonic agents of Sargeras. She kept a constant vigil over Azeroth, destroying demons wherever she found them. Sargeras saw that Aegwynn was a serious threat, but he also saw how she could be manipulated. The Dark Titan sent demonic agents on a great dragonhunt. The demons killed several dragons, but Aegwynn inevitably appeared to aid the dragons. Together, they destroyed the band of demons before they could do irreparable damage. As Aegwynn stood over the smoking corpses, she noticed a nearby rift into the Nether, no doubt created by the dragonslaying demons. Through this portal, Sargeras entered Azeroth to confront Aegwynn. The Guardian of Tirisfal did not hesitate in attacking what she perceived to be a formidable demon, but Sargeras held back, letting the mage destroy his physical body. At the last moment of life, the Dark Titan transferred his spirit into the body of Aegwynn, and settled down to wait. Aegwynn, not aware of the parasitic spirit inside her, sealed the titan's corpse on the bottom of the ocean in the ruins of an ancient Kaldorei temple. Years later, the Order of Tirisfal informed Aegwynn that her time as a Guardian was up, and asked her to proceed to Dalaran to choose her successor. Aegwynn disobeyed the Order's command, deciding that only one of her own lineage would suffice. She sought out the great mage and advisor to King Llane, Nielas Aran. Aegwynn seduced the mage, eventually mothering a son by him. Medivh, son of Aegwynn, was born. Sargeras transfered his spirit to the newborn boy who would eventually become the Last Guardian. When Medivh reached adulthood, he fell into a coma that lasted for seven years. This was Sargeras' doing. During this time, he tapped into the Guardian's enormous power, and when Medivh at last awoke, the Dark Titan had nearly taken complete control. In his new body, Sargeras contacted the orcish warlock Gul'dan, leader of a host of orcs on the world of Draenor. Medivh went to the Black Morass in the southern parts of Azeroth and opened the Dark Portal, allowing the orcs permanent access to the planet. The bloodthirsty Horde swarmed through the rift, waging war upon the native humans and dwarves in Lordaeron and Khaz Modan. Medivh's nature was thoroughly changed after his coma, and his closest friends and relatives noticed something was wrong. Medivh's mother Aegwynn, now banished from the realm for her misdeeds against the Order of Tirisfal, had figured out what Sargeras had done to her, and got into contact with King Llane and his general, Lord Lothar. Lothar felt he had no choice but to destroy the corrupted Medivh in order to prevent the evil Guardian from doing any more damage to Azeroth. Medivh's apprentice wizard, Khadgar, helped Lothar, King Llane and Aegwynn infiltrate Medivh's dark tower, Karazhan. Despite his enormous power, Medivh was caught off his guard, and was in the end killed by his former friends and comrades in his underground sanctum. His body destroyed, Sargeras was sent reeling in pain back into the Twisting Nether. There he remains in limbo, unable to access a vessel body powerful enough to hold his demonic spirit. Sargeras's Banishment Richard A. Knaak said in an interview: Knaak: Sargeras ceased to be in the sense of his physical being in the mortal world of Azeroth. He was cast into limbo, so to speak, as Blizzard wanted. Otherwise, he pretty much would have immediately returned to try to destroy Azeroth again. 'Ceased to be' was used specifically for that reason. The orcish warlock Gul'dan believed the Tomb of Sargeras to hold amazing power, since he had been told as much by both Medivh and the eredar demon Kil'jaeden. Gul’dan attempted to claim the tomb for himself, but when he gained access to the grave, Sargeras' corpse was not there. Instead, Gul'dan found only a plethora of demons, driven mad by their long imprisonment. The demons proceeded to tear Gul'dan to shreds, using the orc's skull as a focal point of their power. To this day, it is unknown what happened to Sargeras' body. Character Development In the original lore, Sargeras was sent to confront the insidious eredar prior to his confrontation with the Nathrezim. This has now been retconned by new lore that establishes that the eredar were transformed into demons by Sargeras. Though we know Sargeras did confront another race of demons prior to the Nathrezim, their identity is unknown, though speculation would point to the Pit Lords. Sargeras was originally a footnote in Warcraft lore, a fallen Daemonlord whose dark legacy was used by Medivh to manipulate Gul'dan. Gradually, novels and game material built up his role to the primary lore villian. Weapons Sargeras has various weapons: *Jeweled Scepter of Sargeras This powerful staff was used by Sargeras and was used to make the portals that destroyed Draenor. *Gorggonash: This powerful sword was weilded when he still was fighting the demons. It broke in half because it didn't want to serve Sargeras in his quest. One half is now fully curropted, while the other was given to his sucessor Aggramar. *Eye of Sargeras: Though not a weapon, but it still counts as one of the artifacts he used to use. It is unknown if it was his real eye or a Trinket he had with him when he was "Killed" by Aegwynn. See also: Eye of Sargeras, Jeweled Scepter of Sargeras, Tomb of Sargeras Category:Burning Legion Category:Major Characters Category:Lore Characters Category:Titans Category:Demons